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Tuesday, 6 January 2015

AIRLINE PRICING BIGGEST BUYER CONCERN FOR 2015

The Business Travel Show's annual buyer forecast, released today, has revealed that one third of European business travel buyers will have more money to spend in
2015. This is undoubtedly good news and, despite being a slight drop on previous
years, is still a strong indication that the market is heading in the right direction. It is also in line with predictions from the GBTA that Europe will enjoy a five per cent increase in business travel spend this year.

The fact that 45 per cent of buyers also expect to
manage more trips this year shows that, despite having more money to spend, they are still being pressured into getting more for their money and making budgets work harder.

Airline highlights from the survey:

36 per cent of buyers enjoyed bigger airline budgets in 2014 and a
further third predict airline budgets will increase again for 2015.

Nine per cent of buyers don’t currently – or
have plans to – use low cost carriers. 26 per cent plan to increase their usage
in 2015.

38 per cent of buyers bought fewer business
class seats in 2014 and 23 per cent will only provide business class travel for
flights over eight hours

Accommodation highlights from the survey:

Almost one third (31 per cent)
of buyers had more to spend on accommodation in 2014.

All buyers use budget hotels, though for 82 per
cent they account for less than 50 per cent of the room nights they book. 12
per cent of buyers used budget accommodation more or significantly more in
2014.

Serviced apartments account for less than 10 per
cent of room nights for 84 per cent of buyers though 12 per cent of buyers did
increase their use of apartments in 2014.

179 travel
buyers took part in the sixth Business Travel Show annual survey in October
2014. 73 per cent of respondents worked in the UK and the remaining 27 per cent
in continental Europe.

Respondents’ travel
budget: %

Less than £150k/€185k 21%

£151k-£500k/€186k-€625k 8%

£501k-£1m/€626k-€1.3m 8%

£1m-£3m/€1.3m-€3.75m 16%

£3m-£10m/€3.75m-€12.5m 14%

£10m+/€12.5m+ 33%

Number of travellers
responsible for: %

Fewer than 50 20%

51-100 8%

101-500 15%

501-1000 10%

1000+ 43%

N.A. 4%

179 travel buyers took part in the Business Travel Show survey - 73 per cent from the UK and 27 per cent from continental Europe. The full Corporate Travel Industry Trend Report featuring analysis going back to 2008 will be available to all buyers who pre-register for the show, which takes place 25-26 February 2015 at Olympia Grand in London.This blog post was written by David Chapple, event director, Business Travel Show. You can chat to David on Twitter @david_chapple or email him - david@businesstravelshow.com